Newsletter, Week 8, Term 2, #3
Principal's Report
Dear Parents & Carers,
It’s been a while since our last newsletter so this report is a bit longer than usual. I hope you enjoy reading about all the great things that have been happening in our school over the last few weeks.
In week 5 of this term we celebrated Catholic Education Week. This year’s theme was ‘Let the words you speak always be full of grace’ - Colossians 4:6. The theme encourages us to think about how we speak and how we can become open to change through dialogue. This subject has been given deep consideration in many different circles recently, political, social, ecological and theological. It reminds us that dialogue opens us to others, to learn and to change. Myself, Fiona Pike and Nicole Zappia accompanied our Student Leadership Team to the Sunraysia Combined Catholic Schools’ Mass where our student leaders took an active role in the Mass which was attended by over 1000 students from Catholic schools all over our district. It was a wonderful experience and I thank our leaders who represented and celebrated Catholic Education, and our school in particular, with great respect and pride.
Following on from Catholic Education week we celebrated our school’s Feast Day. This year we honoured our patron saint Mary Help of Christians through liturgy and music. Gen Bryant and her band joined us for the day. Gen works in schools across the country to spread the Gospel messages through her music and engaging performances. Our students thoroughly enjoyed their sessions with Gen and the whole school concert was a great celebration of our St Mary’s and our faith. We look forward to hearing some of Gen’s songs in our future liturgies and masses.
Of course our Feast Day wouldn’t be the same without the amazing cupcake morning tea supplied by our parents. As always, the cupcakes were delicious and thoroughly enjoyed by all. Thank you to all the families who donated cupcakes. Your generosity is valued and the cakes certainly were appreciated! Thanks also to Fiona Pike and her band of helpers who worked behind the scenes to make the day a great success.
A couple of weeks ago our secondary students travelled to Bendigo to visit the Science Discovery Centre. This was a wonderful opportunity to see science in action. It undoubtedly provided our students with a valuable experience and greatly enhanced our science curriculum. Thanks to all our year 7 & 8 students, Maryanne Leslie, Fiona Pike, Nicole Zappia and Tehan Kelleher who were up pre-dawn to board the bus and make the most of the day!
On Saturday 3rd June many of our students celebrated the Sacrament of First Eucharist at the 6pm Parish Mass. Our students prepared for this very special occasion with the expert support of the Parish Sacramental Team for several weeks. This is a special time for our students and their families and an important part of their faith development. We wish them the very best and keep them in our thoughts and prayers as they take this next, important step in their faith journey.
Last week we celebrated Languages Day. Languages Day is an opportunity for the school to celebrate the history, culture and traditions of the Language being taught at school, which is currently Italian. It was a wonderful day full of culture and educational experiences. Thanks to Frank Zappia for his coordination of the day, the parents who generously donated pasta sauce, Nicole Zappia, Jess Baldock, Maryanne Leslie and their wonderful team of helpers who provided us with a delicious lunch. Make sure you keep an eye out for the front page of this week’s Sentinel for more information and some delightful photos!
Unlike cupcakes, energy drinks are a food that we would prefer not to have at school. There is currently a new drink on the market called Prime, that we have seen at school recently. This, along with all energy drinks, contain extremely high levels of caffeine and are harmful to children. Therefore, they are not appropriate for the school environment and should not be brought to school by students. Parents may find this article on the subject interesting.
Another item that we are starting to see more of at school lately are phones. A reminder that student phones (and other internet enabled personal devices such as smart watches) are banned from all Victorian schools. We understand that many of our students own phones and that parents like their children to carry them but when they are brought to school they MUST be handed in at the office in the morning and collected at the end of the day. Any student who is found to have a phone on them or stored in a bag, locker or tote will have it confiscated. Please remember that if you need to urgently contact your child during the school day you only need to call the office and we will gladly pass the message on.
Chewing gum is also starting to make an appearance in our school again. We’d appreciate it if you could remind your children that chewing gum is not permitted at school at all and do your best to ensure they do not have it with them when they come to school.
Over the past weeks teachers have been busy preparing Semester 1 reports. A significant amount of time and effort goes into each one of these in order to make them individual to every child and to give parents a clear picture of how their children are progressing at school. These will be sent home in the mail to each family on the final day of term, Friday 23rd June. We hope you enjoy reading them and can celebrate your child’s successes. Should you have any questions or concerns about your child’s learning please remember you are most welcome to make an appointment to meet with their teacher or call them when school resumes.
As mentioned above, next week is the final week of term 2. Please be aware that school will finish at the earlier time of 1.25pm on Friday 23rd June and all children will be dismissed at this time. This is due to the Robinvale College finishing earlier which means our local Victorian school buses will collect students at this time. Those who travel on NSW buses will need to make alternative arrangements to get their children home as the NSW bus schedule does not match ours on this day.
Kind regards,
Andrea Welsh
Religion
Feast Day
On Tuesday May 31st we celebrated the special feast of the patron of Australia and our school St Mary’s, Mary, Help of Christians.
Each country of the world has a patron saint, - someone who is special to the people of that country for some particular reason.
These saints are special friends of God and so we pray to them, asking them to intercede on our behalf for God to hear our prayers.
Students participated in some music sessions with Gen Bryant and her band, made some stained glass window art and celebrated Mass in our church with Father Shaiju.
Special thanks to all the parents and community members who donated cup cakes for our recess as part of this wonderful celebration.
SWPBS
This week our SWPBS focus is to obtain informed consent before sharing or posting online.
The SWPBS focus for next week is: share resources and take turns.
Primary
It has been another busy yet excellent term for all Primary students. Congratulations to everyone on their efforts in the classrooms and with participating in our school events. We hope you have a wonderful holiday break at the end of the term filled with lots of fun, family time and rest ready for Semester 2.
Secondary
It has been an extraordinary term for all year 7 and 8 students who have achieved so much throughout their studies! Their hard work and dedication has been noted in every learning area, as well as in their involvement in extracurricular activities. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the students for their hard work and to wish them a safe and enjoyable holiday break. We look forward to an even bigger term next time, so get ready for the challenge! Wishing all students and staff all the best for the holidays!
Social Justice
Next Friday 23rd of June we are inviting students to wear their pyjamas or comfy clothes to school to raise money to support St Vinnies Winter Appeal. The funds raised will help support local people who are having a tough time this winter due to the increased cost of living by providing food, bedding and warm clothing.
Please wear your PJ’s to school and bring a gold coin donation on this day. SRC will also be selling Hot Chocolates at lunch time for $2.00 or $2.50 with marshmallows.
We are also looking for donations for non perishable food items such as: canned goods, rice, pasta, noodles etc. If you are able to donate any of these items please bring them to school by next Friday. Food donated will be used to create food hampers to support those in our local community in need.
